


sherry wine

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: me sobbing about critical role [53]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: "ambiguous" ending, (we all know what happens), Angst, Angst and Feels, Fantasy Racism, Implied Memory Loss, Oneshot, Pre-Stream (Critical Role), how nott gets thrown in jail with caleb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-18 14:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18251516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: nott sees a familiar bottle, and remembers





	sherry wine

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a post by @ofstarstuff on tumblr about nott's self image

Nott’s been away from the clan for somewhere around two weeks. Her hood is up and the cloth she’s using as a makeshift mask hides the rest of her face well enough. Even so, she wants to leave the town as soon as possible- it’s small, which means it’s harder to go unnoticed than the cities. (Not that she’s been to many, but-) She’s about to turn into an alley, to search through the bins, when a shine catches her eye.

The bottle is different from the one ~~she~~ , _Veth_ , used to drink from. Has a reddish tint instead of green, taller, and thinner. But- the label is familiar, drags up memories of a life she’s been desperately trying to repress.

* * *

_Luke is only three weeks old, a tiny squirming bundle of brown skin and blue eyes and hair that’s already curling into little pig’s tails, and they’re already exhausted. She shuffles back into her and Yeza’s room, yawning, and nods when he turns to her. “He fell asleep just as soon as I picked him up, as usual. If only he could **stay** asleep.”_

_Yeza gives her a tired smile, but before she climbs into bed next to him, she pulls out a bottle and two small, delicate glasses from their desk. She pours the wine, and hands the other glass to Yeza. It’s a small luxury, but they both enjoy it- Veth, perhaps, a little more than Yeza. She puts the bottle back, and then slides under the covers, wrapping her arms around her husband. She’s just at the cusp of sleep when a cry starts to sound from the room next door. Yeza huffs something between a chuckle and a sigh, and then stretches. “I’ve got him, sweetheart.”_

* * *

She blinks, her eyes drawn again to the bottle. She creeps forward into the store, barely a shadow, and wanders for a bit to throw off suspicion, in the unlikely case someone saw her. There aren’t very many customers roaming around, which is both a blessing and a curse. Less likely someone will see past her, admittedly flimsy, disguise, but also less people to hide behind.

She drifts closer and closer to the bottle, hands shaking only a little, and then glances behind her. Grabs the bottle, feels a rush of satisfaction, before a bolt of horror runs down her spine as someone picks her up by the scruff of her neck.

“Now, little miss, I know the glass is pretty, but- _goblin!_ ”

The elf shrieks in horror as her hood falls back, and who she can only assume is the owner comes running from the back. The elf keeps a firm hold of her while the owner shouts frantically for the Crownsguard, and then she is roughly manhandled to the jail. 

The townspeople have all gathered at the source of the commotion, now, eyes wide and mouths running at the sight of a _goblin_ , in the middle of _town_ , no less! She hears their whispers with her too-sensitive ears, and it is pounded into her again, with breath stealing clarity, _she is **not** Veth, she is **not** Veth, she is **Nott** , and she will **never** be able to go back_.

(She gets thrown into a dirty cell and shrieks when the pile of rags in the corner starts moving. She meets Caleb. Frumpkin. They escape. And then-)

**Author's Note:**

> it's! sad!


End file.
